Alec Burleson ended a lengthy home run drought by hitting three two-run homers for the St. Louis Cardinals, who rallied for a 13-7 victory over the host New York Yankees after squandering a six-run lead on Monday night.
Burleson capped a seven-run eighth inning by hitting a 2-2 slider from Angel Chivilli (1-1) into the second deck in right for a 418-foot drive. He also hit a two-run homer to right field off New York starter Cam Schlittler with one out in the first and a two-run shot off reliever Tim Hill with two outs in the fourth to give the Cardinals a 6-0 lead.
Burleson became the first Cardinal with three homers in a game since catcher Ivan Herrera on April 2, 2025 against the Angels. He became the first St. Louis first baseman to achieve the feat since Paul Goldschmidt on May 7, 2023.
Burleson also became the first visiting player with a three-homer game at the current Yankee Stadium since Jordan Diaz for the A’s on May 9, 2023.
Burleson’s big night marked his first homers since July 8 and helped the Cardinals win consecutive games for the first time since July 10-11.
Rookies Nathan Church and Jimmie Crooks also homered in the eighth off Chivilli as the Cardinals slugged six homers for the first time since hitting seven against the Dodgers on May 18, 2023. Church hit a go-ahead three-run shot to right field that gave the Cardinals a 9-7 lead and Crooks also homered to right two batters later.
Before the Cardinals stormed back with their power display, Luis Garcia Jr., in his Yankees debut after a trade from the Washington Nationals, hit a two-run homer off George Soriano to give the Yankees a 7-6 lead with two outs in the seventh. Ryan McMahon and Jose Caballero hit consecutive solo homers off Ryne Stanek before Garcia homered to the New York bullpen in right-center.
Austin Wells hit a two-run homer and Trent Grisham homered in the fifth after Burleson hit his first two homers.
In between Burleson’s first two homers, Jose Fermin hit an RBI double with nobody out in the second and Church hit an RBI single with two outs in the third off Schlittler.
Starter Michael McGreevy allowed two runs on four hits in 4 1/3 innings. Gordon Graceffo (7-1) earned the win thanks to the big inning by the Cardinals.
Schlittler allowed four runs on four hits in three innings. The right-hander struck out six but tied a career worst with five walks.
